Refrigerating apparatus



Patented Nov/26, i935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Bar-momma mam-ms Motors ware acorporationofnela V Application January 39,1930, Serial No. 424,328

a Claims: (01. see-5.2) f

For one of itsobjects this invention contem- I plates a unitary absorption refrigeratingapparatus having substantially no moving parts and capable of producing continuous refrigeration over extended periods of time.

A further object of this invention is to provide '10 a plurality of intermittently operating refrigerating devices, and improved means whereby said refrigerating devices are cyclically operated in rotation to produce continuous refrigeration.

A still further objectof this invention is to provide a plurality. of intermittently operated generator-absorbers and improved heating and cooling circuits for said generator-absorbers, said circuits embodying means whereby the generatorabsorbers may be cyclically operated in rotation to produce refrigeration.-

invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of my improved refrigerating system; and i Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a modified form of cooling apparatus for said refrigerating system.

Toillustrate'one embodiment of my invention I have disclosed a refrigerating apparatus of the absorption type indicated generally by the refer-- 35 .ence character III and comprising a'plurality of generator-absorbers ll, I2, I3 and- Il. Each generator-absorber is charged with a suitable absorption material, which material may be either a solid or a liquid capable of absorbing, adsorbing and liberating large quantities of a refrigerant gas under varying degrees of temperature. For example, a liquid absorption material may be water and the. refrigerant may-be- Further objects and advantages of the present Ilh passes through a condenser" I!" through which cooling water flows, entering through the inlet i6 andJeaving through the outlet. I].

As so far .disclosed, the apparatus operates in thefollowing manner; For instance, assuming 5 the apparatus has been initially placed in operation and that the generator-absorber I I is bei heated to drive oil? refrigerant and at theysame time the generator-absorbers l2, I3 and Il are being cooled to cause an absorption of refrigerant 10 gas. Cooling of the generator-absorbers I2, I3

' and Il will cause liquid refrigerant that has. ac-

cumulated in evaporators I20, I30 and llc to evaporateand the vapors thereof will pass back through the conduits 12b, I31) and Ilh to .the 15 generator-absorbers l2, I3 and Il where they will be reabsorbed in the calcium-chloride. At the same time gaseous ammonia will be driven out from the generator-absorber II and this gaseous refrigerant passing through the condenser I5 20 will condense therein and collect in liquid form in the evaporator, I Ic.

'I'he generator-absorbers are heated in a novel manner by means of a closed circuit containing heating fluid. This circuit comprises a plurality 2 of containers or boilers ll, l2, l3 and ll which are mounted upon a heat conducting plate l6 to distribute the heat evenly to all of the boilers. Each boiler communicates at. its upper end through the tubes lIa, l2a, lie and lla with 3 condensers lib, l2b, l3b and llb which con-- densers are in heat exchange relation with the generator-absorbers as shown. Each condenser is provided at its lower end with a container llc to 'llc'for collecting the condensate from the condensers and .each container is provided with. a siphon tube lid such tubes connecting the containers llc to llc with the next succeeding boiler.

That is, the siphon tube lid connects the con-. tainer 4m with the boiler 42 while the siphon tube l2d'con'nects the condenser l2d with the boiler l3. Each siphon tube is provided with a loop lie to lle determining the amount of liquid that must collect before the liquid will siphon over to the next boiler. An equalizing,tube lI boilers 'l2, l3 and ll contain substantially noheating fluid. Heat is now applied to the plate 2, licausingtheliquidintheboilerll tovaporiae.

These vapors pass upwardly through the conduitll and,comingin contactwiththecondenaer llb, will condense and give up their latent heat of condensation to the absorbent material within the space lid. The hliquid will drop baekintocontainerllcandwillcollectflierein. This action will continue until the condensed .liqllid'has collected '11:) t6 the level indicated by thelinecatwhichtimesubstantiallyalloithe limiidwillhavebeendrivenoflfiromtheboilerll in the tom of vapor. When the liquid reaches the levelfindicated by the line C itywill flow through thebend-lle andallottheliquidwillbe siphoned over into the boiler 42 through the conduit l ld. 'lhereupon the heating of generator-,

absorber llwillceaseandtheheatingotgeneratorabsorber lI-will The-heatln g'ot generator-absorber l2 place in mbstan- 'tiallythesamemanner. Thevaporswillpassupwardly through the tubes'lla and condense in the condenser 42b, will collect .in container 42c and finally will'be siphonedover into the boiler 43.

'Inthismannertheheaflngfluidwilltravel inacycle,flrstheating the other generator and the shifting of the heat ing fluid from one generator-absorber to the other is accomplished without the use of moving parts suchasvalvesorthelike. Furthertheplatell may be heated'contimmusly by means of the burner 48 supplied with fuel through the ;con-

duit. Theflowoituelmaybeconizolled, however, in such a manner as to produce the required amount oi. refrigeration, that is, to maintain the cabinet 21 within temper-- atures. This control may be accomplished by providing athermostat 50 within thecabinet 21 which thermostatmaycmitrolavalve Ilinthe fuel supply line. Asthetemperahirewithinthe cabinetll increasesthethermostatwilloperate .thevalveil toincreasetheflowottueltothe burnerwhileasthetemperaturewithinthecabinetlldtheflowoiiueltotheburnerwillbedecreased. y r

- Cooling means-loathe ga'ierator-abaorbcrs is alsoprovidedintheformot'aclosedcircuitcontainingacoolingfluid. Thismeanscompriaesa reservoir showninthiscaseasbetweenthe generator-absorbers II and II. A similar reservoirtlhasbeenshownbetweenthegenerator-ab-r sorbersliandil'lhissecondraervoiris 'idenficalinconstmctionwiththeflrstandthere- Iore,butonethereotwillbedescribed. Surroimdingeachgenerator-aboorberllandliisa jacket llfand llfeachjacketbeingcmnected Qatihilowerendtothelowerendofthereservoir generator 'jheated,therekpmvidedaloq|6lc,apartofwhich 6| by meam of conduit In. Each jacketk also M contacts the m lib. The purpnle of thisloopktoreversetbeflowotcodingfluidin flow of cooling fluid will be upwardly through the jacket I and downwardly through the reservoir I,- that is, downwardly through the portion of the loop contacting the condenser. When heat is applied to the generator-absorber if, it will tend to heat the fluid within the ilc and consequentlydt will tend to cause the cooling fluid to rise within that portion oi. the bend contacting the'condenser. By properly arranging the amount 'of'suriace in the contact with the 10 condenser lib, the thermo-siphonic circulation of the cooling fluid may be prevented.

A modifled form of apparatus for preventingthe. circulation of fluid through one of the jackets, for example, throughthe jacket II! when the generator-absorber II is being heated is disclosed in Fig. 2. This comprises a thermostatic valve II mounted in the connection la and operatively connected to the diaphragm ll forming one wall of a. chamber I2 containing an expan sible fluid. The chamber I2 is secured to the wallofthellbsothatthefluid within the chamber will be in heat exchange relation. therewith. Consequently an increase in the temperature in the condenser l'lb due to the heating ofthe generator II will cause the valve II to close, which a decrease in temperature dueto a lack of heating, will open the valve.

In Fig. 1 each cooling system has been'shown as connected to but two absorbers. In actual operation the four generator-absorbers II to II maybegroupedinacirclearoundasinglereservoir ilandthisreservoirmaybeprovided with branch arms In andilb to each of the four jackets. Two of these circuits have been shown merely for the purpose of clearness.

'l'hesystemhereindisclosediscapableot continuous retrigeratiom- The size of the various generator-absorbers is calculated to be such that the heating period for any one generator-absorb- 4o er is one-third the length of the absorption period.

Assoonastheheating oionegenerator absorber iscolnpleted, theheating of the next generator-absorberwill automatically commence. Alsoduetotheactionoftheloopflctoflcofi'ig; landtotheactionotthevalve'll-oflimithe heating at any one of the generator absorbers will arrangement a preferable where it is desir ed to a valve in the cooling water-simplylinere-j sponaivetothetemperahimottbecoolingwatem Whiletheiormottottheinv'entiom asherdndhcloeedconstltutuapreterredform. itistobcumkrstoodthatotherimmightbe" orator-absorbers, means for cooling saidgenera tor-absorbers, automatic means responsive to a condition of said heating means for discontinuing the heating of one generator-absorber and forstarting the heating of a second generator-absorber; means. automatically operative upon the heating of one of said generator-absorbers to discontinue the cooling of said one generator-absorber, said generator-absorbers being so arranged that a plurality thereof are being cooled while another one thereof is being heated.

2. Refrigerating apparatus of the absorption type comprising a plurality of generator-absorbers, means for heating said generator-absorbers comprising a closed fluid circuit, means for cooling said generator-absorbers, automatic means responsive to a condition within said heating circuit for'discontinuing the heating of one generator-absorber and for starting the heating of a second generator-absorber and means automatically operative upon the heating of one of said generator-absorbers to discontinue the cooling of said one of said generator-absorbers. 3. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a plurality of generator-absorbers, means for heating said generator-absorbers including a closed fluid circuit, means for cooling said generator-absorbers, automatic means responsive to a condition 10 within said heating circuit for discontinuing the heating of one of said generator-absorbers and for means automatically operative on the heating of 20 one of said generator-absorbers to discontinue the cooling of one of said generator-absorbers.

R. HAINSWORTi-i. 

